David Given Schwarm

Married, Father, United

Tag: Zen

  • 39. Ummon’s Sidetrack

    A Zen student told Ummon: “Brilliancy of Buddha illuminates the whole universe.”
    Before he finished the phrase Ummon asked: “You are reciting another’s poem, are you not?”
    “Yes,” answered the student.
    “You are sidetracked,” said Ummon.
    Afterwards another teacher, Shishin, asked his pupils: “At what point did that student go off the track?”

    Mumon’s comment: If anyone perceives Ummon’s particular skillfulness, he will know at what point the student was off the track, and he will be a teacher of man and Devas. If not, he cannot even perceive himself. 


    When a fish meets the fishhook

    If he is too greedy, he will be caught.
    When his mouth opens
    His life already is lost    .

  • 38. An Oak Tree in the Garden

    A monk asked Joshu why Bodhidharma came to China.
    Joshu said: “An oak tree in the garden.”



    Words cannot describe everything.
    The heart’s message cannot be delivered in words.
    If one receives words literally, he will be lost,
    If he tries to explain with words, he will not attain enlightenment in this life    .


  • 37. A Buffalo Passes Through the Enclosure

    Goso said: “When a buffalo goes out of his enclosure to the edge of the abyss, his horns and his head and his hoofs all pass through, but why can’t the tail also pass?”

    Mumon’s comment: If anyone can open one eye at this point and say a word of Zen, he is qualified to repay the four gratifications, and, not only that, he can save all sentient beings under him. But if he cannot say such a word of true Zen, he should turn back to his tail.

    If the buffalo runs, he will fall into the trench;
    If he returns, he will be butchered.
    That little tail

    Is a very strange thing.

  • 36. Meeting a Zen Master on the Road

    Goso said: “When you meet a Zen master on the road you cannot talk to him, you cannot face him with silence. What are you going to do?”




    Mumon’s comment: In such a case, if you can answer him intimately, your realization will be beautiful, but if you cannot, you should look about without seeing anything.
     

    Meeting a Zen master on the road,Face him neither with words nor silence.Give him an uppercutAnd you will be called one who understands Zen



    .

  • 35. Two Souls

    “Seijo, the Chinese girl,” observed Goso, “had two souls, one always sick at home and the other in the city, a married woman with two children. Which was the true soul?”
    Mumon’s comment: When one understands this, he will know it is possible to come out from one shell and enter another, as if one were stopping at a transient lodging house. But if he cannot understand, when his time comes and his four elements separate, he will be just like a crab dipped in boiling water, struggling with many hands and legs. In such a predicament he may say: “Mumon did not tell me where to go!” but it will be too late then.
    The moon above the clouds is the same moon,
    The mountains and rivers below are all different.
    Each is happy in its unity and variety.
    This is one, this is two    .

  • 34. Learning Is Not the Path

    Nansen said: “Mind is not Buddha. Learning is not the path.”

    Mumon’s comment: Nansen was getting old and forgot to be ashamed. He spoke out with bad breath and exposed the scandal of his own home. However, there are few who appreciate his kindness.

    When the sky is clear the sun appears,
    When the earth is parched rain will fall.
    He opened his heart fully and spoke out,
    But it was useless to talk to pigs and fish    .


  • 32. A Philosopher Asks Buddha

    A philosopher asked Buddha: “Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?”
    The Buddha kept silence.
    The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha, saying: “With your loving kindness I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path.”
    After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.
    The Buddha replied: “A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.”










    Mumon’s comment: Ananda was the disciple of the Buddha. Even so, his opinion did not surpass that of outsiders. I want to ask you monks: How much difference is there between disciples and outsiders?
    To tread the sharp edge of a sword,
    To run on smooth-frozen ice,
    One needs no footsteps to follow.
    Walk over the cliffs with hands free    .

  • 31. Joshu Investigates


    A traveling monk asked an old woman the road to Taizan, a popular temple supposed to give wisdom to the one who worships there. The old woman said: “Go straight ahead.” When the monk proceeded a few steps, she said to herself: “He also is a common church-goer.”
    Someone told this incident to Joshu, who said: “Wait until I investigate.” The next day he went and asked the same question, and the old woman gave the same answer.
    Joshu remarked: “I have investigated that old woman.”




    Mumon’s comment: The old woman understood how war is planned, but she did not know how spies sneak in behind her tent. Old Joshu played the spy’s work and turned the tables on her, but he was not an able general. Both had their faults. Now I want to ask you: What was the point of Joshu’s investigating the old woman?








    When the question is common
    The answer is also common.
    When the question is sand in a bowl of boiled rice
    The answer is a stick in the soft mud    .

  • Blow Out the Candle

    Tokusan was studying Zen under Ryutan. One night he came to Ryutan and asked many questions. The teacher said: `The night is getting old. Why don’t you retire?’
    So Tukusan bowed and opened the screen to go out, observing: `It is very dark outside.’
    Ryutan offered Tokusan a lighted candle to find his way. Just as Tokusan received it, Ryutan blew it out. At that moment the mind of Tokusan was opened.
    `What have you attained?’ asked Ryutan.
    `From now on,’ said Tokusan, `I will not doubt the teacher’s words.’
    The next day Ryutan told the monks at his lecture: `I see one monk among you. His teeth are like the sword tree, his mouth is like the blood bowl. If you hit him hard with a big stick, he will not even so much as look back at you. Someday he will mount the highest peak and carry my teaching there.’
    On that day, in front of the lecture hall, Tokusan burned to ashes his commentaries on the sutras. He said: `However abstruse the teachings are, in comparison with this enlightenment they are like a single hair to the great sky. However profound the complicated knowledge of the world, compared to this enlightenment it is like one drop of water to the great ocean.’ Then he left the monastry.

    Mumon’s Comment: When Tokusan was in his own country he was not satisfied with Zen although he had heard about it. He thought: `Those Southern monks say they can teach Dharma outside of the sutras. They are all wrong. I must teach them.’ So he travelled south. He happened to stop near Ryutan’s monastery for refreshments. An old woman who was there asked him: `What are you carrying so heavily?’

    Tokusan replied: `This is a commentary I have made on the Diamond Sutra after many years of work.’

    The old woman said: `I read that sutra which says: “The past mind cannot be held, the present mind cannot be held.” You wish some tea and refreshments. Which mind do you propose to use for them?’

    Tokusan was as though dumb. Finally he asked the woman: `Do you know of any good teacher around here?’

    The old woman referred him to Ryutan, not more than five miles away. So he went to Ryutan in all humility, quite different from when he had started his journey. Ryutan in turn was so kind he forgot his own dignity. It was like pouring muddy water over a drunken man to sober him. After all, it was an unnecessary comedy.

    A hundred hearings cannot surpass one seeing,
    But after you see the teacher, that once glance cannot surpass a hundred hearings.
    His nose was very high
    But he was blind after all.

  • It is Not Mind, It is Not Buddha, It is Not Things

    A monk asked Nansen: `Is there a teaching no master ever preached before?’
    Nansen said: `Yes, there is.’

    `What is it?’ asked the monk.

    Nansen replied: `It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things.’

    Mumon’s Comment: Old Nansen gave away his treasure-words. He must have been greatly upset.

    Nansen was too kind and lost his treasure.
    Truly, words have no power.
    Even though the mountain becomes the sea,
    Words cannot open another’s mind.